Potty Training Cleverness

I am quite proud to report that potty training is in full flow (regrettable turn of phrase).

We’ve now reached Day 7 with very few problems…though of course the accidents always occur at inopportune times; the most unfortunate of which happened whilst I was ‘Mystery Shopping’ Morrisons supermarket. Ha! Deal with that one, guys! (Mystery Shopping is basically where you have to judge shops on their service, cleanliness and product availability. You also have to answer detailed questions on how genuine their smiles are – well done Sam for creating a real test for them!) They actually scored very highly on Operation Clean Up; and thank you to Mrs Morrisons Lady for finding me a pack of socks when I found I had forgotten to bring spares. Where they would have lost points was on how brown and dry all their supposed ‘live plants’ were…but as Sam’s puddle appeared at the very moment I made that observation, I expect the clematis and begonias will now be thriving on Sam’s wee.

Sam is once again proving how crafty he can be – when he goes to bed now, he will repeatedly call out for a wee; just so he can spend a few more minutes with me before being confined to baby jail (which, at two and a half, he can now climb out of…but I’m finding it hard to let go of the pretence that he is secure and safe when he is in there). I put him to bed five times this evening, and each time I rushed to his aid he managed to squeeze out a teeny tiny trickle…and a great big grin.

In fact, although he hasn’t become an immediate expert on the bladder control front, this potty training malarkey is demonstrating how incredibly astute he is. He has quickly learnt that ‘I need a wee wee, Mummy’ will get him to toileting facilities in a very short amount of time…but ‘I’m doing poo poo, Mummy’ will get him there in the flashiest of flashes; so speedy, in fact, that I have twice accidentally abandoned the buggy with shopping bags on board.

I hope by the time I write my next post we will have had a breakthrough on this subject…but until then I am rather enjoying an excuse for short bursts of central heating in order to dry our increased washing load!

If I figure out any secrets I will pass them on…but thus far they are eluding me. We had a failed attempt in January (New Year’s resolution) and he was really positive about it for a week and then just cried for nappies again. So we’ll see how this one goes. He’s definitely ready for it, I’m just worried I’ll reveal my frustration that it doesn’t happen right away and it’ll put him off. That’s not happened last time; I think we just tried too soon. If you’re at the very beginning stages, I would say try to get her to pee before she gets in the bath – or watch her face to see when she is peeing in the bath (Sam ALWAYS used to!) and get her straight out and onto the potty.

Just google ‘mystery shopper’ – you have to do a series of time consuming tests but I’m now signed up to two companies. The questionaires after each shop take aaages and the pay doesn’t reflect the trouble you have to take to do it all…but for me any money is a bonus!